The Italian Education System

Key facts

Scuola dell'infanzia (Kindergaten)

In Italy, Scuola dell’infanzia is free but not compulsory. It welcomes children aged from 3 to 6 years old. It is a tree-levels school where children learn how to develop their personalities and to get ready for primary school. Pupils have 40 hours of class per week, i.e. 8 hours of lessons per day. If in France there is only one teacher per class, in Italy, children can have up to 2 or 3 teachers for the same class group.

Scuola primaria (Primary school)

The Scuola Primaria lasts 5 years and welcomes children aged from 6 to 10 years old. To goal of this school is to give students basic knowledge on different topics grouped in 3 main categories:

Linguistic – expression
Scientific – logic – mathematics
Historic – Geographic – social

However, the number of hours per week can decreases a little bit regarding scuola dell’infanzia. The pupils have 27 to 40 hours per week. Each class have 3 teachers that are called “maestro/a” by the pupils.

Scuola secondaria di primo grado (Secondary school)

The Scuola secondaria di primo grado lasts 3 years and welcomes children aged from 11 to 14 years old. The curriculum is defined by the state ministry but is adapted by the teachers to the local reality and to the level of pupils. The number of hours per week depend of the will of families and what each school offers. Then, it can vary between 30 and 36 hours per week:

In the first case, the pupils only have class in the morning and can do extra-curricular activities in the afternoon.
In the second case, pupils have class every morning and 2 to 3 afternoon per week.

Pupils are graded on a 10 points scale, 10 being the best and 6 the average. At the end of the 3 years, pupils need to pass an exam, the “licenza media“, to access to higher education.

Scuola secondaria di secondo grado (High school)

The Scuola secondaria di secondo grado lasts 5 years and welcomes students aged from 14 to 19 years old. The students can chose to go in a Liceo, a professional institute or a technical institute. The Liceo is the more generalist path however there is 6 kinds of Liceos with different specialities:

Artistic Liceo
Classic Liceo
Linguistic Liceo
Music and Danse Liceo
Scientific Liceo
Human sciences Liceo

At the end of the 5 years, students need to pass an exam called the “Esame di stato“. The exams depend on the chosen path, but in general there is 3 written tests and an oral one in addition to continuous assessment. In order to pass the exam, students need to have at least 60 points on 100.

However, the Liceo do not determine the future speciality of the students at the university. indeed, a student with a Human sciences Liceo degree can chose to do medical studies, even if he or she will have to catch up on the scientific topics. The fields are not compartmentalised, which makes the choice of Liceo less stressful and limiting for students.

Our trip in Italy

The Institute of the Salesian is a catholic private school located in Florence including lower and higher secondary schools (scientific and humanities path for the Liceo).

The Istituto Comprensivo Statale Ottone Rosai is a public school located in Florence offering a complete educational program (from primary school to higher secondary school). The school pays particular attention to the academic, social and personal development of its students.

The Istituto Paritario San Guiseppe is a catholic private school located in Vigevano near Milan offering a complete educational program (from primary school to higher secondary school). The school aims to develop not only the academic skills of its students, but also their personal, moral and spiritual growth.